Management for visitors and community
State of the Parks Fourth Edition
Parks have always been valued places of enjoyment, learning and wellbeing for visitors. Parks Victoria is committed to maintaining park assets and programs to ensure quality visitor experiences and enable diverse people to engage with parks and enjoy the community benefits of parks. Parks Victoria has been progressively implementing a revised Visitor Experience Framework (VEF) to assist prioritisation in effective park management. The VEF is a structured decision-making framework for determining what visitor experiences to provide, and where to invest across the estate. It also captures knowledge about the diversity of visitor experiences offered in Victorian parks.
Sections
Park visits and visitor services
Park assets and their condition
Outcomes and benefits for visitors and community
Community engagement and volunteerism
Key factors influencing management effectiveness (other than resourcing)
Improved management actions
- Roll out of the Visitor Experience Framework (VEF) to assist prioritisation.
- Clear direction set for some parks through management plans and master planning.
- Infrastructure improvements at a range of priority parks and sites.
- Completion of strategic plans to reinvigorate and improve education and interpretation (Learning in Nature) as well as a disability action plan, cultural diversity action plan and a volunteering plan).
- Improved information, accessibility and services for people with a disability.
- New community engagement rangers.
- Growth in PV-led volunteer programs including Volunteer Track Rangers, Campground Host and Volunteer TrailRiders.
- Significant growth of programs to connect younger visitors including Junior Ranger and Bush Kinder and youth pathways programs.
- A variety of partnerships for nature-based health and wellbeing including integration of migrant communities and programs for people with a disability.
- Development of citizen science initiatives to connect people with nature.
- Introduction of ParkConnect system.
Challenges
- Challenges in provision of contemporary services at high growth priority locations (e.g. Shipwreck Coast).
- Challenges in implementing maintenance regimes for visitor assets/facilities.
- Challenges in provision of ranger services at peak times (including competition with fire season demands).
- Challenges in keeping up with rapid growth of emerging visitor experiences (e.g. mountain bike riding).
Future focus
- Develop new website to improve digital experience and provide quality park information.
- Implement Nature is Good Medicine strategic plan and develop new partnerships with healthcare sector.
- Implement park asset improvement plan.
- New asset information and management system.
- Nature-based tourism strategy and signature walks.
- Improve partnerships with Tourism sector including License Tour Operators.
- Grow more diverse volunteer experiences including better use of ParkConnect tools.
- Complete collection and validation of asset and Visitor Experience Framework data.
- Implement visitor safety improvement plan.
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